Dark World
by True Love's Kis5
Summary: In a world that Castiel doesn't know, one with Wendigoes, monsters, and even demons, he has no way out. But why does everyone seem to think he's the price of some castle he's never even heard of, and who is the trickster? Castiel learns very fast that this world has rules, though, and learning to play by them is the only way to survive.
1. Wonderland

**Chapter One: Wonderland**

_A/N: I do have a reason to have Kali and Castiel be friends. No I'm not going to end up shipping them and yes this is going to start out slow like a book. I want to establish the setting before I move onto a more mysterious one. xD Just keep reading to the end of this chapter and it'll start to pick up really fast._

The heat of the air resonated around Castiel, a dry sort of heat that made the hairs on the back of his neck raise freely, without sweat. The strong wind did not surprise him, instead it whipped his dark hair messily into knots and tangles. Still, it was almost beautiful if he thought about it.

Cas wasn't fond of his setting, sometimes he had to look a little bit harder to find any beauty in it at all. If he tried, though, it was not minutely difficult.

He lived in a large bowl of mountains. The blue silhouettes framed his gray world lazily; in the winter they would be tipped with white though no snow fell inside of the city. There was little grass and what there was had been implanted, but the tan dirt was hard and cold even in the summer and despite the hard winds, never strayed.

Still, Castiel couldn't help but hate the place. It was a short drive from sin city and he sometimes wondered if his bowl of mountains didn't cut him off from the rest of the world. He had a strong feeling that he didn't belong and if he thought long and hard about it, these thoughts became unbearable.

But his thoughts were now on the ground which was far from his feet

At present he was sitting on the calm bark of a very rare tree. What trees did grow in the deserts of las vegas, they were hard and weathered, easy to climb, and when the heat became unbearable he would climb as high as he could until wind shook him hard and made him cold.

They'd never fallen, these trees, but Castiel wouldn't' be afraid even if they had. He wasn't afraid of heights, he found them exhilarating.

These trees hung over the breach of his father's property which was surprisingly large given his location of which properties generally reached only over a quarter of an acre.

Some of these trees even reached over the stone walls into other properties. If he was feeling brave he could climb onto those thinner branches and find himself at Kali's house. Of course that was dangerous but he sometimes did it anyway.

Kali and Castiel weren't very good friends at first but the two of them were always pushed together. They were both quiet, (though Kali had a sort of intimidating version of silence while his was more awkward) so of course the two were considered a "cute couple" by the rest of the school and had been forced to spend more time together. They weren't actually dating but Castiel never refuted those claims. Kali didn't either, mostly because she didn't care much for rumors or she never heard them. Cas often wished he could be the same.

From other the wall he could see Kali sitting on a wooden bench, feet hanging over the mucky gray of her underground pool. It wasn't the pool's fault, really, it was only reflecting the state of the atmosphere.

He waved at her absently, causing a branch to spring him in the nose but Kali didn't see him or if she did she didn't deem him worth a response.

Castiel took a tighter grip on the branch he was sitting in and pushed through the straight leaves, hoping with all of his heart that the branch didn't snap. If the wall was eight feet tall, the branch was somewhat taller.

He crawled forward, light on his feet, until the branch was so flimsy that it would be unsafe to proceed. Then, holding a heavy breath, pushed himself onto the brick wall. The branch snapped as soon as he pushed off of it and Cas had to smile. That could have been his body falling through the salt-cedar leaves.

He let himself fall from the wall down into her property. "Hello, Kali," he greeted her quietly. He never spoke very loudly, partially because he was afraid of being heard.

Kali looked up from her clear drink (Castiel never asked what was in those, he didn't' want to know.) "Go away." The beautiful Indian girl was often like that. She didn't really mean it though, Castiel knew. It just gave him a pang in his chest, a kind of insecurity.

Kali's eyebrows were furrowed together lightly, her eyes narrowed against the page of the book that she held just a bit too tightly. Cas knew that face, he was wary of that expression. "What's wrong?"

Instead of doing what she'd said, Cas took a few steps forward to sit next to her on the swinging bench-chair. The air of summer was stronger here, with Kali's cropped red shirt and the noticeable lack of his trench coat. He missed it, the baggy coat covered all of his imperfections. She looked over at him judgmentally and said "your friends are idiots."

"Is that what's wrong?" he answered. Maybe his friends were a little bit strange but he didn't think that they were idiots. Jo and Balthazar could certainly be a little bit crazy but they weren't stupid. Or at least Jo wasn't.

Kali's thumb absently brushed against the page of her book and she shut it lightly, putting it next to her before looking at Castiel for the first time. "I didn't think that you were one of them, Castiel."

"An idiot?" he asked. That he couldn't say anything about. His father certainly seemed to think so.

"Yes," she snapped, some of her inner ferocity showing in the browns of her eyes. "You're doing something very, very stupid Castiel. Even more idiotic to think you'd be doing it without me."

Cas bit his lip. He knew what this was about now. "I guess you could, Kali, but I'd have to get Crowley to make you a fake ID. You know how much he charges…" It wasn't as if Cas really wanted to get into a Casino down in Vegas but Balthazar was going and Cas couldn't let his friend go alone. Besides, there was a thrill of doing something wrong that Cas hadn't experienced before.

Kali put her hands on her hips, clenching her jaw lightly. "If we get in trouble I will be the one to kill you."

Cas tried to fight the grin that caught on his cheeks but he wrapped her in a hug instead. He was surprised that she accepted it, if momentarily.

"I mean it, Castiel," Kali growled. "If anyone deserves to end you, it's me."

"I wouldn't doubt it for a second."

…

Cas couldn't remember how Jo and Balthazar had gotten him to do this. It was unlike him to do something so….Illegal. Sure, Jo had gotten him to smoke pot once but he'd been horrified at himself and had sat in the shower for almost an hour afterwards, shivering despite the heat of the steam.

Now he was sitting in his red kitchen, holding onto the arm of his chair tightly as he lied to his father that he'd be going over to Balthazar's house for the weekend. He was sure that Balthazar probably had nothing harmless in mind. Alcohol, gambling, everything that he hated... "I don't like that kid," said Cas' father. "he's a bad influence on you."

"Dad," said Cas lightly "we won't get into any trouble. I promise. I'll call you every hour if you want me to."

The older man pursed his lips together and shook his head. "Fine. But if you get into any trouble at all, I'm not bailing you out."

Cas smiled. It seemed that Michael was in a good mood; that was a rarity in itself. "Thank you, dad." Michael wasn't actually his father but he'd been told to call him that so many times that he didn't' want to call him anything else anymore. Cas wasn't stupid despite what the man told him.

He flattened his palm against the tabletop with a sigh as Michael walked away, feet padding softly on slate tiles; Castiel fished the phone out of his pocket and quietly texted Balthazar.

11:16 AM 3/16/14 Castiel Novak: I don't know how you got me into this. I'll see you tomorrow.

11:21 AM 3/16/14 Sebastian Balthazar: Love you too Cassie.

At that moment it seemed like he would never miss the peeling red paint of the kitchen or the creaky chairs, the feeling of his heart beating out of his chest with anticipation and fear.

It soon became the only thing that he thought about.

…

The next notable moment was when Balthazar was driving them into the depths of Las Vegas. Jo looked nonchalant, Balthazar expectably insane, Kali stoic and angry; Cas had to wonder what he looked like. Probably afraid.

His hands were clutching the sides of his seat as Balt zipped around the traffic, biting his lip as they nearly crashed into the car in front of them. Soon he could see the large buildings and bridges of people, notable signs that he should not be where he was.

He was still in his bowl of mountains, though, the air burned just by the touch, and that brought him back to reality. He was still in the same place, in the same world, and he would be perfectly fine.

He was almost glad that he could make himself believe something so obviously false.

conditioning. top and shorts. She looked at Castiel through the window and opened the door for him, eyebrow raised expectantly.

"Sorry," said Cas softly, stepping onto the black pavement. Though he could find beauty in the more rural parts of Vegas, where he lived, he saw none in these large, glamorous buildings. Instead he saw gluttony and lust, the sins of the people who spent too much time here.

He must have looked distasteful because Balt said "c'mon, Cassie, it'll be fun!''

Cas could see the mayonnaise sky, the metal, shiny buildings, the black tower of the luxor, but he couldn't see fun anywhere. He wasn't sure how Balthazar could say that so surely, as if he could see fun like it was some kind of building in the distance.

He didn't answer and instead headed to the back of the group with Kali who was glaring at him distastefully. "Yes, Castiel. It'll be fun. Keep going."

Cas shot her back a glare of his own and followed the others into the "Flamingo" casino.

The smell was of heavy smoke and Cas hated himself for loving the taste of it on his tongue. Carpet underfoot was tacky, the walls painted with golden monuments and carvings of women, it wasn't attractive in any way, like most casinos, but he knew he wasn't there to criticize the wallpaper.

They walked up to several tables full of poker chips and Cas waited there while several of his friends went to go buy drinks with their fake ID's. It was silent for a while, no one talked to him. He wasn't really the kind of person that people were entranced by.

Then Balthazar came prancing back with two drinks and immediately handed Cas one, which he took reluctantly.

He probably should have suspected something when Balthazar handed him a drink, or at least he should have refused but he'd been feeling detached from Balthazar lately and stupid or not, he decided that something like this might help him sow that gap together.

That was when things started to get really, really weird.

Things kept flashing in and out but Cas remembered something about a girl, a beautiful one with brown hair and big, wide-set eyes.

He remembered drinking far more than was acceptable, even gambling until he had no money left, He remembered doing a lot of things that he probably could have gotten arrested for as Jo and Balthazar cheered him on and as Kali shook her head forcefully. But nothing after that.

There was absolutely nothing after that; he didn't' know if he slept with the girl, he didnt' even remember where he was when he woke up in the morning. He just blacked out like a firecracker, knowing very well that he'd regret it in the morning.

…

Maybe Cas expected to wake up in jail, or next to the beautiful woman that he vaguely remembered the night before. Either way he didn't want to open his eyes to face the headache that he was bound to experience as soon as the light hit his pupils.

Instead he put his hand down on the ground just under his fingertips. There was a kind of cloth, it didn't feel like his bed, though… There was a wet feeling under his fingertips, moist like some kind of flower or plant. He immediately pulled his hand back up, sure that he had been dipping his fingers in a pot of flowers. But maybe that wasn't it, he didn't even know where he'd managed to get sleep. They'd booked a hotel but Cas couldn't remember getting back there.

Finally curious enough, he opened his eyes quietly, sitting up warily as he did so. He didn't see the bars of a jail cell or the long brown hair of April Smith (or he thought that was her name. He was sure of the April part.) No, he was on a blanket like some sort of twisted picnic, placed upon long strings of grass. He wasn't' sure if this was some kind of joke or what, but he could feel someone watching him.

There was a man with big amber eyes staring at him without blinking. "Heya, Cassie. Nice to see you again."

In the dark, whoever was talking to him was far more menacing. He shivered and pushed himself backwards. Cas was very, very sure that he'd never met this man in his life. He felt like he was in The Hangover that had been badly mixed with Alice in Wonderland. "I'm sorry, I don't think we've met. Where am I?"

Wherever it was, it was dark. The only part he could see of the speaker was the almost glowing amber eyes. He could have almost been a cat for all Cas knew. He was scared, for the first time in a long time, absolutely terrified. And then he looked up. There were stars. So many stars dotting the horizon, but not ones that he knew.

Las Vegas had so much pollution that you could only see stars on a very, very clear night and never this many. Wherever he was it wasn't home. "I'm not in Kansas anymore, am I?"


	2. It's A Wonderful Life

_Last Chapter:_

_And then he looked up. There were stars. So many stars dotting the horizon, but not ones that he knew. Las Vegas had so much pollution that you could only see stars on a very, very clear night and never this many. Wherever he was it wasn't home._

_"I'm not in Kansas anymore, am I?"_

**Chapter Two: It's A Wonderful Life**

The cold chilled Cas to the bone, the harsh winds shooting through his skin. There was something about the darkness that made everything seem more ominous. The wind was the howling wolves of the night, the trees were tall men staring at him with night-shaded eyes.

And this boy's eyes cut through the night like a razor, amber as a cat's. His words weren't so worrisome and his voice was as childish as an infant, all high notes and sarcastic words, but the setting made Cas wary of him nonetheless.

"Where the hells is Kansas?" asked the boy, laughing. There was a hint of nervousness in his voice that didn't seem to fit him for reasons Cas didn't know.

Despite his off-putting voice, this scared Castiel more than anything. Wherever he was, this man didn't know where Kansas was. Surely he couldn't have gotten out of the country so quickly? Most likely this kid was on drugs or he was being messed with; it was the only explanation that made sense.

"How did you know my name?" asked Cas quickly. He wasn't sure that he wanted to know the answer. What he did want to know though, was where Balt, Jo, and Kali were. He really hoped he hadn't' gotten them into any sort of trouble.

"Oh come on, you really don't remember me? That's no fun at all."

Now that Cas' eyes had adjusted to the moonlight a little bit better, he could see the outline of a face. The eyes didn't belong to a child. He must have been at least 20, or older than Cas at least. He might have even been sporting a pout.

"Well I'm the Trickster," he said with an obviously fake grin. There was something worrisome about this man.

That name really didn't help put down his anxiety. The grass was wet underneath his fingertips, crunching at his every anxious movement. "Okay, well can you at least tell me where I am?"

"But you already know," said the Trickster, standing up as if this were a perfectly normal experience. "Cassie, are you high?" he snapped his eyes back to Cas' blue ones and he was surprised to see a covered bit of concern in the stranger's eyes.

"No," said Cas stubbornly. He was starting to wonder if he was, actually. He didn't' think this was a normal kind of hallucination but his mind couldn't grasp onto what was going on. Under his breath he muttered "not anymore."

Cas didn't catch any more glimpses of concern. Like a mask his features changed, convincingly. "Dad is going to kill you. And it's going to be hilarious."

The Trickster said 'dad' like he for some reason thought Cas was his brother. "Look, I don't know who you think I am but I'm just trying to get back home. Not to Kansas, to Las Vegas. You know, sin city, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas?"

The Trickster raised his eyebrow and said "Cassie did you hit your head?"

"That's not my name!"

"Yeah but Castiel sounds like some kind of fairy princess."

Cas was very quickly deciding that he didn't like the sound of this guy. "Okay look. I'll just...Find my way back somehow. Find someone actually useful…"

The Trickster shook his head and grabbed onto Cas' wrist. He could feel the heartbeat under Castiel's skin, so fast it was almost as if the blood was trying to escape from his body. There was something wrong.

Cas tried to jerk away but the Trickster was faster, tackling him to the ground. "You're still high," decided the trickster "I don't know how the hells Mr. Goody-two-shoes got high but I'm bringing you back home."

"I'm not," Cas was struggling hard now. "Who you think I am, get away from me, please…" He was frantic and he bit hard into the trickster's flesh, using the distraction to run as far as he possibly could into the woods.

He wasn't used to trees, not really. These weren't like the ones around his house. They weren't hard and tall, they were deep brown against the pale moonlight as he sprinted, unable to look at what he believed to be beautiful. Cas didn't even really know what he was running from anymore. the Trickster didn't seem to be following him anymore.

What kind of name was The Trickster anyway? Probably some kind of gang name, they must have taken him to...Wherever this was and then tried to trick him or something.

Castiel was breathing hard by the time he stopped and he collapsed under one of the tall, thick trees. He couldn't help the light tears that streamed down his face. Michael was right, he should have just stayed home. Now he was lost in the middle of the woods where something was bound to eat him or some gang member named the trickster could roast him for dinner if he wanted to.

He was perfectly silent, though. And in that silence he somehow managed to find sleep. Maybe it was because he was still hoping this was all a drug-induced dream and when he woke up he'd be laying next to April Smith with a hangover, ready to kill Balthazar for whatever he'd drugged him with.

…

While that didn't happen, the forest was a lot prettier in the morning. The light shifted through the leaves, yellow and encrusted gold. The ground, dappled with leaves itself, was imprinted with the sun's marking through the trees. He could have stayed there forever if he hadn't heard footsteps.

He didn't' know who or what the footsteps were from; just that whoever they were, they weren't trying to be stealthy. Leaves crunched deliciously but Cas had nowhere to hide. He wouldn't know how to be any quieter than whoever was coming.

So if they were going to make noise, so was he. Castiel quickly ripped a branch from the nearest tree and held it towards where he was sure the noises were coming from.

This wouldn't protect him and he knew it. But he also wasn't a very fast runner. There was nowhere to hide.

He realized too late that the noise wasn't coming from the direction that he'd thought it was. But maybe that was the plan.

Something poked roughly at his back; Cas guessed that it probably wasn't a stick. "Who the hell are you," growled the voice.

Cas took a deep breath. Ever since he was very little he could remember that whenever he got very, very afraid, he froze and was unable to move. Miraculously, though, he managed to turn around with clear eyes, wiped of fear. "I could ask you the same."

The assaulting man was taller than him. Cas knew he wouldn't be able to take him in a fight if he had to, and of course, the man had a gun. He had a fairly light build; Cas was slightly stockier, but that wouldn't matter in a fight with a gun.

Surprisingly, though, the man just wrapped his arms around him. "Cas, man, you freaked the hell out of us. Gabe said that you ran into the forest last night, we were sure the Wendigoes were gonna get you."

Cas shivered under the unfamiliar hold. "Why are you squeezing me with your body?" He was pretty sure that people weren't supposed to do that. Unless maybe they were trying to hold them down in a fight.

"It's called a hug, Cas," said the green-eyed man, sounding amused. "Gabe said that you were on some kind of acid trip. Must be good stuff if you're still out of it."

Yeah, maybe, but Cas didn't think that was what was going on. He had no idea who this man was, or who Gabriel was for that matter, though he assumed he was referencing the trickster. Gabriel was a much more sensible name.

Now, Cas was really no fighter but he knew very well how. He had trained in almost every kind of martial art to learn how to protect himself from his father even though he'd never been brave enough to actually defend himself from Michael.

Either way, "Dean" (or that's what he'd called himself) wasn't expecting an attack, that much was certain. Cas would easily be able to take the gun if he wanted to. That seemed like the best option to his terrified mind.

First he lagged behind a little bit as they began to walk. Dean was talking about more things that he didn't' understand but he zoned that all out, instead thinking hard about what he was about to do.

He was already behind Dean, making this a far easier job than it would have been, so he took one last look at the man's hand wrapped loosely around the gun, and lunged forward, ripping the gun out of his grasp. They both bowled over to the ground but Cas landed on top of Dean. He put the gun on Dean's head. "Okay now you're going to tell me what I need to know."

He had a momentary panic. He was holding a gun to someone; but he had to do it, he had to know where he was. Besides, how could he trust someone with a gun not to shoot him? Especially a stranger.

Dean's eyes darkened "that's not loaded."

Cas kept the gun held to Dean's head as if somehow it would load itself but he knew it wouldn't.

It was almost as if Dean had known what Cas was going to do, like he'd expected it. Almost like he'd known Cas. Because he really couldn't shoot someone, he had been bluffing.

Castiel sighed and pushed the gun away. "You're smarter than you look. But please, I need information."

"Damn it, Cas," said Dean, sounding annoyed "you could have just asked, you know. I dont' bite. Usually."

The dappled leaves and charts of light didn't look so beautiful anymore. Cas wondered if that was what time did to things. It didn't' make anything less beautiful but eventually nothing looked spectacular to the human eye. Maybe that's why old people were so sad.

"Why does everyone here know my name?" That was only one of his questions, of course, because he had many.

"Because," said Dean warily "if you live somewhere long enough people tend to learn your name? Especially if you're the prince, dude…"

"But I'm not!" he snapped "I'm a junior in highschool. Hardly anyone important."

Dean was starting to wonder if this really was just an acid trip or if there was something wrong.

"Okay two more," said Cas with a shaky sigh. "Who's the trickster?"

"Gabriel," said Dean, shaking his head. "He's kind of a douche but he's your brother so we all deal with it."

Cas was getting more and more confused and his mind was rejecting every piece of information that was offered to him. But he had to understand where he was before he could figure out how to escape. "Where is this?"

"Heaven," said Dean. Of course why wouldn't Cas know that? He should know all of this stuff.

Cas' eyes grew as wide as moons. "I'm dead?"

"No, idiot," said Dean with a laugh. "It's a Kingdom called Heaven." He roughly grabbed Castiel's arm and tried to pull him back to the castle. "Your dad is going to miss you, you don't want to be late to see him."

Cas didn't ask any more questions.

A/N: Next chapter's gonna be in someone else's point of view. I love Cas but this story can't just be told by one person. Next chapter will actually have some far better action. This one was really boring but necessary.


End file.
